Finding the Power Within

by C. C. Masters

  If the fae were using a point in the Arctic to get in and out of our world, I needed satellites that could pick up on movement and activity where there shouldn’t be any. I hurriedly gulped down the rest of the disgusting lukewarm coffee so I had enough fuel to keep me moving. I needed to buckle down and figure this out. Anna needed me.

  Chapter 14

  Anna

  Airmed had come to my room while Cody was still in the bathroom and we were now sitting awkwardly in complete silence, waiting for Cody.

  I cleared my throat. “So… how many other healers are there?”

  Airmed looked at me as if I had just insulted her. “They have me.”

  I nodded nervously. “I just meant, that humans usually have a lot of different healers so that the burden isn’t so much on just one.”

  She gave me an irritated sigh. “Humans are fragile, short-lived little things, magic doesn’t work well on them anyway.”

  “Really?” I asked curiously. “Have you tried? Why doesn’t it work?”

  Airmed looked at me as if I were a moron. “I don’t need to try. It won’t work because they don’t have magic to begin with.”

  “Um, okay.” , I doubted that what she said was accurate. If she never tried then how would she know? And hadn’t Froston told me that there was magic in everything around me? I would imagine that included humans as well. It sounded more like Airmed just wanted an excuse so that she didn’t have to work on humans.

  The bathroom door creaked open and I stood up, grateful for the interruption to this painful conversation. Cody stood in the doorway with a too-small towel wrapped around his hips and water still dripping from his hair. The water was dripping onto his shoulders and slowly down his very muscular chest. I licked my lips at the sight but shook myself out of it when Airmed gave an irritated sigh.

  “Cody, I would like you to meet Airmed. She’s the healer who has been teaching me.”

  “Trying to teach you,” Airmed grumbled under her breath.

  I ignored her comment and gave her a polite smile instead of rolling my eyes at her like I wanted to.

  “Uh, yeah. Nice to meet you,” Cody said awkwardly. “Any chance they might have some clothes in my size around here?”

  I blinked and looked at him. Most of the male fae that I had met so far had been tall, but lean. There was no way Cody would be able to squeeze into any of their borrowed clothing. Even the guards, whom Caylee had told me were part human, weren’t close to Cody’s size.

  Airmed stood. “You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before, wolf. Just lie down on the bed so we can get this over with.”

  Cody looked at me and I gave him an embarrassed shrug. “Maybe cover up with the blanket for now, and then we can ask Caylee to find you some clothes?”

  Cody shrugged and unknotted the towel. I adverted my eyes to be polite but out of the corner of my eye I saw him rub the towel through his hair before heading to the bed. My eyes were drawn to him as if he were magnetic and after a quick glance to see him heading for the bed I forced myself to look at the ceiling.

  It wasn’t too quick for me to notice that his muscular back led to an equally impressive backside and thighs. I waited until it sounded like he was situated in the bed before looking back in his direction.

  Airmed had her eyes on me, obviously amused. “I guess he does have something you haven’t seen before.”

  I turned bright red as Cody chuckled from his spot on the bed. He winced painfully and inhaled a sharp breath, so he probably shouldn’t have been laughing at me anyway.

  I followed Airmed over to the bed where we stood over Cody. He just looked amused as we both stood over him but at least he had flung a part of the blanket over his man bits. His body was still covered in cuts and , but it looked like the scrapes had started to heal up nicely. His eye was still swollen shut and had now turned more of a purple color than the red that it had been earlier. That had to be painful.

  Airmed crossed her arms and stared at me. “Go ahead.”

  I huffed in frustration. “Go ahead and do what?” I shook my head. “Airmed, I’m not trying to replace you as the healer here.”

  She snorted. “Like you could.”

  “Exactly,” I told her earnestly. “I will never have the expertise and talent that you do.” I was really trying to soften her up now. “But my goal is to do something different.”

  She raised an eyebrow at me, but at least she was listening.

  “My expertise is going to be wolves and other shifters.”

  She rolled her eyes. “They barely have any fae blood at all, they’re almost as bad as the humans.”

  I blinked in surprise. Since when did wolves have any fae blood? That was off-topic. I could question my father about that later, but right now I needed to get her on my side.

  Cody looked just as surprised as I did, but I shot him a warning look before he could say anything. “They are beneath your level, but they are the perfect patient population for me.”

  Airmed started to look interested. “That’s probably true, I doubt you have enough talent in you to heal real fae. You definitely should never be given the opportunity to heal the prince or any other royalty.”

  I nodded in agreement. Was that why she’s been so rude to me? She’s been worried I would take her spot? “I fit in better with the wolves than with the other fae, anyway.”

  She looked me up and down. “True.”

  I took a deep breath to calm my rising temper. “So… I would appreciate it if you could teach me how to heal wolves like Cody.”

  She stared deep into my eyes as if she was really considering it. I saw a flicker in her eyes when she made her decision. “I suppose.”

  I hid my smile and looked down at Cody. His injuries were more than enough to somber me up quickly.

  Airmed reached for my hands and I gave them to her with surprise. She had never deigned to touch me before, was she really going to try to teach me this time? We linked hands over Cody and he stared up at us apprehensively. Magic was not something that wolves had much contact with, so I’m sure he must have been a little nervous at being my test subject. Especially since he knew I could barely function as a wolf, and now he was trusting me to use my fae magic on him.

  “Draw your magic,” Airmed instructed me. “I will help to guide you in the right direction. Your goal is to smooth and soothe everything back into place.”

  I nodded and focused on my magic. I was surprised when I felt her guiding me, even though we weren’t connected like the prince and I would be during our lessons together. “You want to use the magic that’s already inside of him, merge it with your own, and then use it to heal the damaged tissues,” Airmed instructed me. “His body will accept the healing better if it recognizes the magic as his.”

  Airmed poked and prodded me in the right direction more than she guided me, but her instruction was helpful. I was so focused on what we were doing that I didn’t realize how much time had passed until Cody let out a loud snore.

  I giggled and Airmed gave me a small smile. I was shocked, I had never seen her mouth even twitch in the direction of a smile before. I used my magic to poke Cody in a now-healed part of his abs, startling him awake. He gave me a sheepish grin when he realized that he had fallen asleep. I smiled at him to let him know I wasn’t upset.

  He raised a hand to his face and gently felt around his previously injured eye. “It feels much better!” I was going to just let go of how surprised he sounded. After all, I hadn’t thought I would be able to do this either.

  Airmed let go of my hands. “Yes, Anna did a good job for her first time.” She raised her eyes to me. “I didn’t think you would be able to do anything at all. It looks like you might have a future healing lesser creatures, after all.”

  I gritted my teeth. Lesser creatures?

  Airmed raised her chin and took a step back. “I will see you down in the training area tomorrow morning. I’m sure we will have some guards lined up that you can prac
tice on. If you can manage to heal them, then I can stop wasting my time on the half-breeds all together.”

  She didn’t even wait for an answer from me, she simply glided out of the room.

  “Well, she’s delightful,” Cody said with a straight face.

  I laughed. “She’s one of the more delightful ones.”

  Cody made a face. “Great. I can’t wait to meet some of the others.”

  I sighed and sat down on the bed next to him. I was exhausted, magic really took a lot out of me.

  Cody patted the bed next to him. “C’mere, Anna.”

  I hesitated but decided to just snuggle up to him. I hadn’t been as close to Cody as I had with the twins, but now that I had been away from all of them for so long I realized that was a mistake.

  He reached his arm around me to pull me close and I cuddled in closer to his warmth and his scent. Before Cody had gotten here, I hadn’t realized just how empty and alone I had been feeling. Caylee had been keeping me company, but it wasn’t the same as having my pack all around me. I had gotten really attached to always having the guys close.

  Cody moved his thumb in small circles on my lower back. “I missed you,” he murmured into my hair.

  “I missed you, too,” I mumbled back, trying to hide the tears that I felt prickling at my eyes. There’s no way I wanted to confess just how scared and alone I’d felt since I was taken from the pack, I didn’t want Cody to think I was a wimp.

  His thumb stilled for a moment. “You’re not going to leave us now that you’re an uber powerful fae princess, right?”

  I picked up my head to look at him incredulously. “I’ve been worried that the pack wouldn’t take me back… now that you know that I’m some kind of freak.”

  Cody laughed out loud and I was a little insulted at first, but then I saw the humor in it all and laughed with him. I elbowed him in his now-healed ribs. “And I’m not a fae princess.”

  “The little redhead and the guards all call you ‘my lady’. So you’re some kind of royalty.” Cody answered with a frown.

  I shrugged. “I just want to go home and leave all this behind.”

  Cody gave me a squeeze. “You and me both.”

  I wiggled around to get comfortable but when I moved my hand on his abs I suddenly remembered that he was completely naked under the small corner of the blanket that he had strategically placed over himself.

  I blushed, and Cody must have picked up on my thoughts because I could feel his grin as he gazed down at me. He could have teased me, but instead he just gave me a kiss on the forehead. “Once I get some clothes, do you want to give me a tour?”

  “Oh, I’m not supposed to leave the room,” I informed Cody. “Not unless I’m with my father, or the prince.”

  Cody frowned. “You are a prisoner here?”

  I shook my head. “Yes and no. I’m… an unwilling guest?”

  “Your father hasn’t welcomed his long-lost daughter?” Cody questioned me with an unreadable look on his face.

  “He’s… confusing,” I told Cody. “He’s friendly sometimes, but I don’t think he wants me around him most of the time. If he did, he wouldn’t be keeping me hidden in a dark corner of his stone castle.”

  Cody gave me another squeeze. “I’m sorry, Anna. That must be rough on you. I know you were hoping for more when you found out you had family out there somewhere.”

  “Yeah,” I said sadly. “I guess I was.”

  Cody gave me a grin. “What if we decided to explore on our own?”

  I thought about it. I had been nervous about my father’s warnings about leaving my room, but I had been getting better at magic and I knew how to shield myself. Plus, I wasn’t alone anymore. Not many of the guards would want to take on Cody. The combination of the two of us together should make it okay.

  I perked up. “You know what? Let’s do it.”

  I hopped out of the bed. “But we don’t need clothes.”

  Cody raised an eyebrow.

  “I need to know if I can use my magic while I’m in my wolf form,” I told him seriously. “Let’s explore the castle as wolves.”

  Cody laughed out loud. “How will the fae feel about us ‘lesser creatures’ wandering their halls?”

  I shrugged. “Who cares? The prince is off doing prince stuff, and the rest of the fae here should all fall under my father’s authority. Let’s just do what we want.”

  Cody looked at me with surprise and respect in his eyes. “You’ve changed since you’ve been away from us.”

  I shrugged, a little embarrassed. “I’ll change in the bathroom. You can change here but crack the door beforehand so we can get out without hands.”

  Cody gave me a grin. “Yes, my lady.”

  I rolled my eyes but went into the bathroom to change. It had been too long since I had indulged my wolf half. I had been spending all my spare time moping around in a depression. It was time for me to run free.

  Once in the bathroom, I slipped off my dress and stared into the mirror for a moment. I saw the same blond hair and green eyes that I had been looking at my entire life. But the girl that I saw in the mirror now had more strength and determination than I had ever seen before.

  I had gradually been becoming more confident in who I was, but now I had the strength to back it up. I would never have to cower in front of anyone like my uncle ever again. I was strong enough to protect myself and felt confident that I could take on most of the bullies like him back in my world.

  My father and the prince were two of the strongest fae in this world and I was learning from the best. I intended to take in every lesson that they had to offer. I might not like everything that they had to teach me, but I was determined to find a way to use this power for good.

  I gave myself a nod in the mirror and then shifted. I shook out my white coat and gave a wolf grin when I felt the cool stone beneath my paws. Not only was I a vicious Arctic wolf, but I was on my way to becoming a badass fae, too.

  I ran out into the room and pounced on Cody. He tried to wrestle me to the ground, but I used some of my fae magic to throw the fight in my favor. Saying that he was surprised when I pinned him down with a paw on top of his head was a huge understatement. I had been practicing holding things in place with my magic and was pleased to see that it worked just as well on giant wolves as it did with apples.

  I let him up and backed away, not sure how he would feel about being pinned down by a female wolf half his size. I didn’t have to worry, because as soon as he got up he gave me a happy grin and a lick on the face. I nuzzled him affectionately before turning and racing for the door.

  I nudged it the rest of the way open with my nose and squeezed through, Cody following behind me. The hallway in front of us was completely empty, and perfect for racing. I gave Cody a challenging look before darting ahead. He quickly caught on to the game and raced to get ahead of me.

  We were neck in neck while coming up to a corner, so I used the opportunity to smush him into the wall and dart ahead. He didn’t let me get far because he grabbed ahold of my tail with his teeth and gave a tug. It wasn’t rough enough to hurt, but it was enough to make me turn around and pounce on him again.

  We played in the hallway for a few minutes, wrestling and nipping at each other until we heard a crash. Caylee was ahead of us and had dropped a platter full of tea cups and a pot that she had been carrying. She was backing away slowly with a look of complete horror on her face.

  I realized what she must think and quickly shifted to my human form, covering the important bits with my hands and hiding behind Cody. “Caylee!” I whisper-shouted. “It’s just me and Cody.”

  Her jaw almost hit the floor. “My lady?”

  Cody thankfully realized that I was using him to hide my nudity and didn’t turn to look. He kept his eyes forward on Caylee.

  “Cody and I were just looking around the castle,” I told her quietly. I heard more footsteps in our direction and quickly shifted back to my wolf form. It was one thin
g to be naked in front of Caylee, but a stranger? Nope.

  An older human woman stopped when she saw Caylee in the hall with the spilled dishes. “You little-”

  I started to growl as soon as I heard her talk to Caylee in that tone of voice. Caylee was mine to protect. The older woman’s eyes found me and Cody in the hall and she gasped.

  I crept toward her slowly and she backed away.

  “Mrs. Pendleton, it’s just Lord Froston’s daughter and her…companion.” Caylee assured the frightened woman.

  I placed myself in between Caylee and the mean woman, still not liking the situation. Cody stood next to me and Mrs. Pendleton looked even more terrified. Cody was large enough that his head came to Caylee’s shoulder, so I’m sure he made a much more intimidating picture than I did.

  “My lady was just asking me to show her around the castle,” Caylee said quietly. “They surprised me when I came around the corner and I dropped the tray.”

  Mrs. Pendleton’s mouth was still open. “Oh, well…”

  I narrowed my eyes at her and let out a low growl again.

  She swallowed nervously. “Why don’t I clean this up and you can show Lady Anna around as she pleases?”

  I relaxed and gave her a nod. That would be fine.

  Mrs. Pendleton gave me a curtsy. “My lady.” She lowered her eyes and waited for us to pass before starting to pick up the mess.

  I waited until we had rounded another corner before giving a huff of amusement. Cody and I flanked Caylee so that she was in the middle. She kept giving Cody nervous looks, which was understandable. It’s probably not every day that she’s faced with a wolf almost as tall as she was and twice her size.

  “My lady, it’s probably a good day to explore the castle,” Caylee told me without her usual bubbliness. I nudged her hand and she gave me a small smile. “Your father and the prince were summoned to court, so most of the fae are out of the castle until later tonight.”

  Cody and I exchanged wolf grins. This did sound like the perfect opportunity to explore.

  “Why don’t I lead you outside?” Caylee offered. “I don’t think you’ve been out of the castle since you’ve gotten here.”